


(Can I Sleep On) The Air Mattress With You?

by stevie_RST



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Asexual Sirius Black, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sharing a Bed, Songfic, Sort Of, and it's an air mattress, sort of but not really, there's only one bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26288566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stevie_RST/pseuds/stevie_RST
Summary: Prompt 59: Fluffy warm snuggling & cuddling moments between Ace!Sirius & Remus.Just a soft, sweet fic (with a little anxiety) of Sirius and Remus cuddling and realizing their feelings based on the song "Air Mattress" by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 104
Collections: Harry Potter Ace Fest 2020





	(Can I Sleep On) The Air Mattress With You?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the creators and mods of The HP Ace Fest for running this awesome fest to showcase some awesome ace (and /or aro) stories!

“And even if there was a king-size bed  
Where I can stretch my legs and lie my head  
All by myself, in the darkest room  
Just know that no matter what the options are, I choose

The air mattress with you  
(Can I sleep on)  
The air mattress with you?”

“Air Mattress” - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band 

\--------------------

Sirius would (almost) always choose to sleep wherever Remus was. He was a sucker for physical affection and cuddling had to be among his favorite hobbies. Sure, it might have been due to the lack of affection he received as a child, but he didn’t like to dwell on that. 

Now he got all of the affection he wanted, most often in the form of Remus’ body wrapped around his own. Sirius loved being the little spoon despite the fact that he was slightly taller than Remus, maybe even because of that fact. It was the only time that Remus seemed to take up more space than he did. 

\--------------------

Sirius remembers how he and Remus finally got together: it was when they were helping James and Lily move into their new apartment. They stayed the night after a late night of unpacking that had them all knackered. The only downside was the lack of furniture. James and Lily finally had a guest room, but no bed to put in it yet. And Peter passed out on the couch after they finished eating their take-away Indian food. Which all meant that Sirius and Remus had to share the air mattress in the otherwise unfurnished guest room. 

The sharing a bed wasn’t a big deal, they had shared in the past on various occasions, but that was before Sirius finally confronted his feelings for Remus and before he realized he was asexual. His friends all knew about his asexuality, Lily probably even knew about it before he figured it out for himself. 

\--------------------

Remus had set up the air mattress while Sirius was in the bathroom; he had even rummaged through some of Lily and James’ boxes to find the spare blankets that Lily had mentioned should be there somewhere. 

Sirius just wanted to sleep and not think about how close he would be laying next to Remus. He had never quite felt this way before. He was insanely anxious, and he swore his palms were sweating. He had never truly had a crush on someone, for the longest time when they were younger he didn’t understand James’ crush on Lily Evans and how much he wanted to shag her. Now he more so understood having a crush, but still didn’t have the desire to shag anyone. 

But good God, was Sirius a romantic at heart. He was a downright sap to be honest, so much so that James and Peter always teased him about it. But the teasing from them didn’t bother him, he knew it was affectionate and he knew that James could be just as sappy when it came to Lily. 

Sirius wanted that. He wanted something akin to what James and Lily had. But with Remus. Everything always came back to Remus, and Sirius just wanted to be a sap with him. To drown him in romantic gestures and kisses and cuddles. Remus gave the best hugs and Sirius desperately wanted to receive them on a more frequent basis. Not to mention the rare occasions where Remus would kiss him on the forehead. 

Sirius returned to the guest room and turned out the light. He then pulled his hair out of the plait it had been in all day and shook it out and tried to shake off all of his romantic thoughts about Remus while he was at it. It didn’t quite work. So Sirius sighed and flopped down onto the air mattress next to Remus causing the other man to yelp as the moment jolted him. They were basically lying on a giant pool float afterall. 

“Really, Sirius?” 

“Sorry, Moony,” Sirius replied, but he was laughing which undermined his apology. 

Remus just huffed at him and Sirius knew him well enough to know it was a huff of both exasperation and fondness. If only Sirius could work up the courage to tell Remus just how fond he was of him. 

And while Sirius didn’t feel ready to tell Remus, he was also having a hard time not just blurting out how much he wants to kiss the other man. Remus looked adorable with his hair already mussed and the way he was already cocooning himself in the blankets. It was so utterly cute and Sirius wanted it to be the last thing he saw every night before he went to sleep. 

Sirius managed to pull enough of the blanket from Remus’ cocoon to cover himself with minimal grumbling from Remus who was already on the verge of sleep. Sirius allowed himself one more look at Remus’ peaceful face before he rolled over to lay on his side with his back to his friend (the rolling over was more difficult that it normally would have been considering the air mattress situation, and there was a lot more squeaking involved). Yet before he knew it, he was also pulled into sleep. 

\--------------------

Sirius woke sometime later unsure of what actually woke him. He was laying more on his stomach than when he fell asleep. He reached a hand out and fumbled for his phone that was on the floor next to the air mattress. The brightness of the screen was a little blinding, but he managed to make out that it was a few minutes after four in the morning. Both too early and too late to be awake. 

He put his phone back down and leaned back onto the bed, only to finally notice that the body of his bedmate was a lot closer than when they went to sleep. 

Remus was laying on his side and he moved in his sleep to lean his head against Sirius' shoulder, his breath fanning out across Sirius’ neck. Sirius sighed at the touch and gripped his pillow tighter, shoving his face into it. 

Remus was hardly touching him, but Sirius could feel the warmth radiating from his body. It was beyond comforting. So comforting that Sirius drifted back into a deep sleep. 

\--------------------

The next time Sirius woke up, it was to a soft sensation against his t-shirt clad shoulder. He blinked his eyes open and immediately closed them again when he felt fingers brushing his hair back from his face. He had to be dreaming and maybe if he kept his eyes shut tightly enough he could just live in his dreams. 

The next thing he knew, he felt an arm, Remus’ arm squeeze around his middle. “Sirius,” he whispered, “I know you’re awake.” 

Sirius stayed as still as he could and hesitated to answer, even though it was fruitless since Remus knew he was awake. 

Sirius hummed in response, but still kept his eyes shut, his body tense. 

“What’s the matter?” Remus asked, a concerned tinge in his voice. 

Sirius let out a breath, “Nothing. ‘m fine.”  
“You’re not fine, I can tell.” Remus started to remove his arm from Sirius’ body and move away, but Sirius gripped his arm and held it to himself. 

“Don’t leave,” Sirius said in a small voice that didn’t sound like himself even to his own ears. 

“I’m not leaving Sirius. What makes you think that?” 

“Because.” 

“Well, you’ll need to elaborate on that.” Sirius could hear the affection in his voice and it was just. Too much. So he rolled onto his side, as much as the sagging air mattress allowed, and curled up with his back to Remus, his head in his hands. 

Which of course led Remus to place a strong, yet gentle hand on his shoulder. “Padfoot, you have to tell me what’s wrong,” he pleaded. 

Sirius couldn’t resist Remus’ tone, but still didn’t want to face him. He felt his face getting hot and the tears that were welling up in his eyes. So he mumbled his response into the pillow. 

So of course Remus pestered him some more and asked him to repeat what he said. 

Sirius finally shook off Remus’ hand, which had been rubbing up and down his arm, and jolted up into a sitting position. He then whipped away the blanket and tripped on the sagging air mattress as he stood up. 

He looked down at Remus who was still sitting on the air mattress, a puzzled look on his face. 

Sirius ran his hands through his own hair. “I like you. Okay? I really, really like you. But you’re my best friend. But you, you don’t like me like that. And I’m--and I’m ace, and you’re...not.” He clenched his teeth. “So it wouldn’t work anyway.” 

He then turned to face the wall, his back to Remus once again. 

Remus didn’t say anything, but after a few moments, Sirius heard the tell-tale squeaks of someone trying, and failing to get up from an air mattress. And in the next moment there was a tentative touch to his shoulder as Remus got closer. 

Sirius tensed, but didn’t shake off the touch. He never wanted to refuse Remus’ touch. Remus must have taken Sirius' lack of movement as permission as he squeezed Sirius' shoulder and moved to stand so they were face to face. 

“Padfoot, there must be some sort of misunderstanding here,” Remus stated as he brushed some hair out of Sirius’ face. Which was of course when Sirius wrenched his arm out of Remus’ hold and focused his angry eyes on him. 

“What misunderstanding? I just ripped my heart out for you. It’s on my sleeve, don’t you see it?” Sirius snarled. 

Sirius was angry, but not angry enough for the hurt expression on Remus’ face to escape his notice. It caused him to swallow his own hurt and anger. 

“Sirius,” Remus whispered, “I thought we were in a sort of relationship. It’s just I figured you had your boundaries and I wanted to respect them.” 

“Remus, we have separate bedrooms and you thought we were in a relationship?” Sirius asked with a confused tilt of his head.  
“Nothing wrong with needing a room of one’s own, space can be nice at times.” 

“Moony,” Sirius groaned, “You mean that I could have been kissing you for at least a year by now.” 

Remus rubbed the back of his neck before moving his hand to fiddle with the hem of his shirt. “I mean...I guess. Yes. But not if you don’t want to. I know you don’t want sex or anything.” 

“Of course, I bloody want to kiss you,” Sirius sputtered. “And there is a big gap, a chasm really between kissing and sex. Kissing I want, kissing I like. Well in theory.” He sighed. “Will you just kiss me?” 

Remus held out a hand. “Come here.” 

And Sirius went. He wrapped his arms around Remus and just melted into him. Sirius breathed him in and Remus did the same. They stood that way, just clinging, for a few long moments. 

“You know, for how much you begged me to kiss you, there is very little kissing happening.” There was the snark that Sirius loved. Yes. He loved it. 

“Shut up, I like hugging you,” Sirius mumbled into Remus’ shoulder. 

Remus lifted his face from Sirius’ hair and used a hand to tip Sirius’ face up towards his own. 

Sirius smiled and leaned in to peck Remus on the lips a few times. Remus deepened the kiss a bit, but it was still close mouthed and a bit chaste. Sirius hummed in satisfaction and gave a kiss to the side of Remus’ neck before stepping back a little. 

“It’s still early yet, we should lay down again,” Remus suggested. 

“You have the best ideas. Have I told you that?” 

“You could tell me more.” 

\--------------------

So they laid down on the sagging air mattress—it lost a considerable amount of air after a night of being slept on—but in that moment there was nowhere else Sirius wanted to be. 

And if the deflated state of the mattress was good for anything, if forced them to lay cuddled together as was their plan. They laid on their sides facing each other. Sirius tangled their legs together. 

“Bloody hell, Sirius, how are your feet so cold? It’s not even that cold in here,” Remus said. 

“I’m always cold, Moony. And now I have you to warm me up,” Sirius said, accentuating his statement by pressing even closer to Remus’ warmth. Remus sighed and wrapped his arm around Sirius’ waist, pulling him closer still. Sirius nuzzled his face into Remus’ neck and let out a contented hum. He felt the kiss that Remus pressed to his hair in response and couldn’t help the smile that stretched across his face. He was sure that Remus could feel it against his skin. 

A little while later, when Sirius thought that Remus might have drifted off to sleep, Remus asked, “Since today is when we started dating, on a technicality, are you going to make us cuddle on an air mattress for our anniversaries?” 

“I am now,” Sirius laughed. He then took a deep breath and made Remus open his eyes and look at him. “Moony, you know that even if I had the biggest, most comfortable bed all to myself I would still choose to sleep on an air mattress with you.”

“I know Sirius, I know,” Remus replied.


End file.
